Green Roofs

The Green Learning Station is home to four types of vegetated roof systems, or green roofs. The types of systems you can see on our site are:

extensive built in place, 4″ of growing medium, planted with plugs

extensive biodegradable tray, 4″ of growing medium

intensive built in place, planted with annual and perennial vegetables, 12″ of growing medium

extensive sloped built in place, 4″ of growing medium, planted with sedum carpet.

Why plant a green roof?

Green roofs use sponge-like soil and plants to suck up rain, keeping it out of our sewer system and decreasing combined sewer overflows. But that’s not all, they also:

act like a sweater for a building: insulating it from changes in temperature and acting as a sound barrier

create habitat for insects, birds and even lizards

take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen

provide beautiful views for those overlooking them

increase usable green space in urban environments

reduce the heat island effect.

Green Roof Glossary

extensive: a shallow green roof, usually less than 6″ of growing mediumgrowing medium: soil engineered to be light weight and absorbent, usually comprised of expanded shale (halite), sand and compostintensive: a shallow green roof, usually more than 8″ of growing mediumplugs: small plants with a root area the size of your thumbsedum: a large genus of flowering plants that are succulents (store water in their leaves) and tend to be drought tolerant and prefer well-drained soils, also known as stonecropssedum carpet: a coconut fiber mat embedded with soil and planted with sedums that can be rolled out onto a roof, giving it instant plant coverage